Contractor FM Conway says it has found a time capsule in front of an old police station in Sidcup, London, which dates back to the year before ڶ was first published

Time capsule index

“Attention friends…”

This time, as we delve into the past, we’re going back further than ever before - in fact older than the magazine itself. This issue’s archive piece dates back to 10 May, 1842 - the year before Joseph Aloysius Hansom first published The Builder (as ڶ was known until 1966).

Contractor FM Conway says it found the document in question in a time capsule located in front of an old police station in Sidcup, London. It was uncovered while the firm was taking part in a regeneration project. The capsule contained a long, humorous note about the building of the police station, written in rhyming couplets, which starts: “Attention friends, pray give awhile, to these our rhyming parlies; You soon shall know, our house was built for no old fashioned charlies …”

The document was apparently placed in the time capsule by J Morris Esq of William Smith Architects and Mr Robert Wade and Mr James Miller, builders, on 10 May 1842 - the day the foundation stone of the building was laid. The package also contained a chart showing the night sky on 10 May (pictured).

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